Saskatoon woman warns others about drugged drinks
It's a night Michelle MacDonald won't forget anytime soon.
Last year, the University of Saskatchewan student and her friends were out drinking at a Saskatoon bar.
Her drink was left unattended. Soon after downing it, she began to feel unwell.
"I immediately felt very off and very strange," she said. "There's about an hour and a half of my night that is nothing to me, that I had no idea what is going on."
MacDonald remembers her friends finding her outside, slumped against a wall.
"It was really scary," she said. "The idea that I could be somewhere in the city with people that I know, and still be so unsafe, was very scary."
MacDonald says nothing happened to her that night, and is glad she had friends with her.
Fighting back
Saskatoon's Sexual Assault and Information Centre says there are a number of things people can do to stop drugged drinks in their tracks. They include:
- Buy your own drinks
- Don't leave your drinks unattended
- Watch for people who may be slipping something into somebody's drink
- Watch for people giving drinks to others, but not drinking themselves
Centre assistant director Heather Pocock says bystanders and friends should get involved as well.
"If you see somebody who appears to be very intoxicated or hallucinating or really giddy, but they've only had one drink, perhaps intervene," she said. "Stand up and check in with them to make sure that they're okay, and keep an eye on them."
Right now, the centre is writing a guide for staff at bars and lounges, to educate them on signs to watch out for. The centre is also holding a 'bystander awareness' class at the University of Saskatchewan next week detailing ways to combat drugged drinks.
Dangerous drugs
Fred Remillard, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Pharmacy, says so-called 'date rape' drugs act very quickly.
"Suddenly, you're going to feel very lethargic, very fatigued, very sedated, and it will happen very quickly," he said. "And for someone who's used to drinking alcohol, they should be able to notice a difference."
Remillard says it's common for people dosed with date rape drugs to experience amnesia afterwards.
"You won't really remember what happened to you," he said. "Even if you're conscious."
He says these drugs can be very dangerous, especially if they're homemade. Remillard says the internet is full of recipes for a drug called hydroxybuterate, and large doses can be fatal.
"At two grams, you start feeling the very significant symptoms, sedation, confusion," he said. "Up to four grams can be toxic, and can lead to respiratory depression, it can lead to a coma, it can lead to death."
Hard to catch
It's still not clear how many cases of drugged drinks occur in Saskatoon in any given year.
"In terms of how many clients we see in a year, probably a couple of dozen," said Pocock. "That doesn't mean it's not out there. When we do training, when we do public ed, we hear, yeah, it's rampant. So, we don't know what the degree is, or how serious it is.
Saskatoon police say they haven't received many reports of date rape drugs being used in the community. They ask anyone who suspects they may have been dosed to contact police and make a full report.
Michelle MacDonald says she didn't contact police after her incident.
"I didn't believe there was much of a report to be made," she said. "I feel like if I would have gone to them, they would have said, 'So, what do you want us to do about it?'"
